Ricky Dene Gervais[8] (/dʒərˈveɪz/; born 25 June 1961)[9] is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, and singer.

Gervais worked initially in the music industry, attempting a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new wave act Seona Dancing and working as the manager of the then-unknown band Suede before turning to comedy. Gervais appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000. In 2000, he was given a Channel 4 talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais, and then achieved greater mainstream fame a year later with his BBC television series The Office. It was followed by Extras in 2005. He co-wrote and co-directed both series with Stephen Merchant. In addition to writing and directing the shows, he played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. He reprised his role as Brent in the comedy film Life on the Road.

Gervais began his stand-up career in the late 1990s. He has performed five multi-national stand-up comedy tours and wrote the Flanimals book series. Gervais, Merchant and Karl Pilkington created the podcast, The Ricky Gervais Show, which has spawned various spin-offs starring Pilkington and produced by Gervais and Merchant.[10]

In 1983, during his final year as a student at UCL (University College London), Gervais and college friend Bill Macrae formed the new wave pop duo, Seona Dancing. They were signed by London Records, which released two of their singles—"More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart". The songs failed to chart inside the UK top 75.[23] Despite not being successful in the UK, Seona Dancing did manage to score a hit in the Philippines with "More to Lose".[24] He also worked as the manager for Suede before they became successful in the 1990s.[25]

In 2013, Gervais performed a live tour as David Brent along with a band under the name "Foregone Conclusion". Gervais and the band performed songs written under the Brent character including songs such as "Equality Street" and "Free Love Freeway".[26] Gervais also produced a series of YouTube videos under the title 'Learn Guitar with David Brent', featuring acoustic guitar versions of nine songs.

In 2016, as part of the Life on Road film promotion, Gervais published the David Brent Songbook[27] containing 15 songs. These were also recorded for the album Life on the Road, under the name of David Brent and Foregone Conclusion.

After the first series of The Office, Gervais and Merchant returned to Xfm in November 2001 for a Saturday radio show. This was when the pair first worked with Karl Pilkington, who produced the shows and later collaborated with them on their series of podcasts.[32] In October 2017, Gervais began hosting the weekly radio show Ricky Gervais Is Deadly Sirius on Sirius XM.[33]

On 5 December 2005, Guardian Unlimited began offering free weekly podcasts, including The Ricky Gervais Show featuring Gervais, Merchant, and Karl Pilkington.[34] Throughout January and February 2006 the podcast was consistently ranked the number-one podcast in the world; it appeared in the 2007 Guinness World Record for the world's most-downloaded podcast, having gained an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month.[35] Two more series—each with six podcasts—were released between February and September 2006.

In late 2006, three more free podcasts were released. Together called "The Podfather Trilogy", they debuted individually at Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.[36] These three were known by Ricky and Steve as "The Fourth Season". In October 2007 another free full-length podcast was released through iTunes; this podcast was originally given out for free during a performance of Gervais' Fame stand-up tour in London. On 25 November 2007 Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington released another free full-length podcast, which lasted just over an hour.

In August 2008, Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington recorded their fifth season of audiobooks, totaling 4 chapters, which were released on 16 September 2008. These audiobooks were described as the 'guide to...' series, covering several topics. As of May 2011, there are 12 "Guides" in total: Medicine, Natural History, Arts, Philosophy, The English, Society, Law & Order, The Future, The Human Body, The Earth, The World Cup 2010, and Comic Relief.[37] The conversations typically begin on topic, but constantly stray away from the topic at hand.

Gervais has contributed to the BAFTA-winning The Sketch Show (ITV), penning several sketches. His mainstream-TV debut came in September 1998 as part of Channel 4's "Comedy Lab" series of pilots. His one-off show Golden Years focused on a David Bowie–obsessed character called Clive Meadows.[38]

Gervais then came to much wider national attention with an obnoxious, cutting persona featured in a topical slot that replaced Ali G's segments on the satirical Channel 4 comedy programme The 11 O'Clock Show in early 1999, in which his character used as many expletives as was possible and produced an inordinate amount of politically incorrect statements. Among the other regular featured comedians on the show was Mackenzie Crook, later a co-star of The Office. Two years later, Gervais went on to present his own comedy chat show for Channel 4 called Meet Ricky Gervais; it was poorly received and has since been mocked by Gervais himself.

The Office started when Stephen Merchant, while on a BBC production course, had to make his own short film. In August 1999 he made a docu-soap parody, set in an office, with help from Ash Atalla, who was shown a 7-minute video called 'The Seedy Boss'. Thus David Brent was created. Merchant passed this tape on to the BBC's Head of Entertainment Paul Jackson at the Edinburgh Fringe, who then passed it on to Head of Comedy Jon Plowman, who eventually commissioned a full-pilot script from Merchant and Gervais.[40]

The first six-episode series of The Office aired in the UK in July and August 2001 to little fanfare or attention.[41] Word-of-mouth, repeats, and DVDs helped spread the word, building up momentum and anticipation for the second series, also comprising six episodes.[42] Following the success of The Office's second series, Gervais was named the most powerful person in TV comedy by Radio Times.[43]

In 2004, The Office won the Golden Globes for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Gervais, who said in a 2015 BBC interview that the award was the gateway to America for him.[44]

The Guardian's Chris Tryhorn explained the "few gripes" he had with Extras, "particularly in the second series". "You can forgive Gervais a certain arrogance after the success of The Office, but..." He remarks on the confused tone of the series, taking in the clash between the broad comedy of characters Barry (Shaun Williamson) and Darren (Stephen Merchant), and the apparent parody of this style with When The Whistle Blows, and "given their total indulgence of Gervais, the BBC is portrayed as interfering, its comedy department run by a rather crudely stereotyped gay couple".[50]

The Ricky Gervais Show is an animated TV show that debuted on US cable network HBO on 19 February 2010.[51][52] In the UK, the first series began airing on 23 April 2010 on Channel 4. The show was developed using original podcast recordings from The Ricky Gervais Show starring Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington. After receiving a loyal and enthusiastic following in the US, cable channel HBO recommissioned the show for a second series, which aired in 2011,[53] and a third series which started airing in April 2012.

Life's Too Short began airing on BBC Two on 10 November 2011.[54][55] Gervais and Stephen Merchant would write this observational sitcom from an idea by Warwick Davis. It is described by Gervais as being about "the life of a showbiz dwarf" and as "a cross between Extras and The Office". The show stars actor Davis playing a fictionalized version of himself, as well as Gervais and Merchant.[56] Premium cable channel HBO, who co-produced the series with the BBC, had the US rights and began airing the series on 19 February 2012.[57][58]

An Idiot Abroad is a travel documentary produced by Gervais and Merchant where a reluctant Pilkington travels around the world, while his reactions to people and places is recorded. Occasionally, Gervais and Merchant call him to surprise him with a new place to visit or a task to do. Pilkington reports back to them and mostly complains about the situation he is in. Gervais said there is no planning, a camera crew follows his friend around recording many hours of film which Gervais edits down to about an hour each episode.[59]

To date two series and a Christmas special have aired, series one involves Pilkington visiting the Seven Wonders of the World, in the second show he chooses to complete tasks from a bucket list provided by Gervais and in the special Warwick Davis joins Pilkington on a journey following Marco Polo's route from Italy to China.

Gervais said that the series is about "kindness [being] more important than anything else". He added "It's about the forgotten – everyone's forgotten. It's all these arbitrary people who didn't know each other, and they're in there now because they're in the last years of their life. And it's about the people who help them, who themselves are losers and have their own problems. It's about a bunch of people with nothing, but making the most of it, and they're together." He chose to set the sitcom in a retirement home after he watched Secret Millionaire – "It was always these people with huge problems who were helping other people. I thought about having Derek help old people because no one cares about old people in this country... I think it's perfect for now."[65]

Channel 4 commissioned a full series of Derek that aired in early 2013.[66] Derek was recommissioned for a second series which premiered on 23 April 2014.[67]Derek ended with a one-off final special,[68] broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK 22 December 2014.

Gervais later toured the UK in 2003 with his stand-up show Animals. The Politics tour followed a year later. Both of these shows were recorded for release on DVD and television broadcast. The third part of the themed live trilogy, Fame, took place in 2007. It started in Glasgow in January and ended in Sheffield in April. Blackpool reported selling out of tickets within 45 minutes of them going on sale.[69]

Gervais performing in 2007

Newsnight Review's panel saw Animals during its Bloomsbury run and covered it in January 2003. They were not favourable, with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop saying it was "cobbled together...banal...a bit flat".[70] After this, Gervais closed each show by calling Hislop an "ugly little pug-faced cunt".[71][72]

Fame was the subject of some controversy in January 2007 when Gervais told a story, ostensibly about how people will do anything to become famous, referring to the murder of prostitutes in Ipswich.[73]

In 2013, Gervais announced that his next stand up show will be called Humanity.[77] In December 2014, he said he was too busy to do his tour due to producing two films.[78]

In May 2016, Gervais was back doing stand up in London, starting with some low key warm-ups with cast members from Derek.[79] He said, "Finally, I'm going to do some stand-up. The first in about six years if you don't count hosting the Golden Globes."

He continued his Humanity show throughout 2017 and into 2018; appearing at SF Sketchfest as part of the tour, which devoted a night in honor of the comedian, alongside comedic legend and mentor Christopher Guest.[80]

One of the first animations Gervais voiced was the character of Penguin in Robbie the Reindeer's Legend of the Lost Tribe.[82]

Gervais guest-starred in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife". He is the only British comic to write and star in a Simpsons episode. The episode was the highest rated in Sky One's history; it revolved around the angle that Gervais was the episode's sole writer (and the first guest star on the show to also receive a writing credit for the episode of his appearance). Gervais clarified the extent of his input in a joint interview (with Christopher Guest) for Dazed and Confused magazine (January 2006): "No, all I did was put down a load of observations on an email and they made it look like a Simpsons script. I'm going to get the credit, but I think everyone in the industry knows it was a joint effort". Asked in a separate interview about how his idea for the episode (in which Homer swaps Marge on a game show) came about, Gervais replied: "I've always been fascinated with reality game shows but I think it was my girlfriend's idea. We watch Celebrity Big Brother at the moment, we watch I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here... we watch all those reality TV shows – The Office came out of those docu-soaps".[83] Gervais, a longstanding Simpsons fan, presented a segment to mark the show's 20th anniversary on BBC Two's The Culture Show on 16 June 2007.

In 2012, Gervais made a guest appearance on Family Guy in the episode titled "Be Careful What You Fish For". In the episode, Gervais plays a dolphin named Billy Finn who gives Peter Griffin a Mercedes-Benz hood ornament, Peter half-heartedly promises a favor to him. Soon, Billy moves to Quahog but outstays his welcome at Peter's. Peter tries to reunite Billy with his ex-wife in hopes that he will return to the ocean. The episode also featured Lucy Davis. Both Gervais and Davis starred together in The Office.[84]

Gervais had a cameo role in Simon Pegg's and Jessica Hynes's sitcom Spaced, as Dave, an estate agent who mistakenly placed the advertisement for a property for a couple that turns out to be the premise of the show.[85]

In season 8 episode 6 The Hero of the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gervais was a guest at Larry David's dinner table. He played a version of himself, an egocentic self-promoting actor that annoyed David's character who was desperate for attention.[86]

Gervais has also guest-starred on Alias (appearing in the third-season episode "Façade") as Daniel Ryan, a former Royal Navy bomb-disposal specialist turned rogue Irish Republican Army bomb-maker.[87]

Louis C.K. had Gervais play Dr. Ben, his doctor on two episodes of his series Louie. Gervais would break into his trademark hysterical laugh every time his character made Louie the butt of a joke.[88]

Early in 2015, Gervais guest starred in Galavant, a four-week comedy mini-series, as Xanax the magician. The show aired on ABC and Gervais got to show off his singing skills.[89][90]

Gervais made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in a Digital Short during which he joked that The Office was adapted from a Japanese programme of the same name (with Steve Carell reprising his role as Michael Scott). The sketch re-creates scenes from the American and British pilot episode with Japanese elements (although in an exaggerated way). "It's funny", Gervais laughs at the end, "because it's racist".[91]

His 2011 hosting of the awards was controversial for his edgy jokes that were at the expense of many of the nominees, similar to the New York Friars Club roast style jokes.[95] His jibes were described as setting "a corrosive tone" by one critic, though some celebrities were seen crying from laughter, leaving the overall reaction to be 'mixed'.[96][97] Gervais responded, "They are my friends, but I had to play the outsider."[44]

Talking Funny, which first aired on 28 April 2011, starred Gervais and fellow standup comedians Louis C.K., Chris Rock, and Jerry Seinfeld, they had an informal round-table discussion on standup comedy. This one off HBO special was well received by critics & audience alike.[99][100][101]

In 2013, Gervais guest starred in David Blaine: Real or Magic, a television special where Blaine proceeded to run a large needle through his forearm in front of Gervais.[102]

In January 2006, Gervais interviewed Larry David in a one-off special, Ricky Gervais Meets... Larry David. On 25 and 26 December of the same year Channel 4 aired similar specials in which he interviewed the actor/comedian Christopher Guest and comedian Garry Shandling. There are no plans for further episodes of Meets..., although editions with John Cleese and Matt Groening were recorded in 2006 for broadcast in 2007. A source claimed, "The Shandling experience put him off for good".[103]

In January 2009, Gervais was a guest on BravoTV Inside the Actors Studio season 15 with James Lipton, where at one point of the interview he answered Lipton's question as David Brent his character from The Office. Brent obliged the audience by singing his song "Freelove Freeway" with a guitar supplied to him by Lipton.[104]

Gervais has been on The Late Show with David Letterman 26 times.[105] In 2008, he helped Letterman read out the Late Show Top Ten List, Top Ten Stupid Things Americans Say To Brits.[106] In mid 2014, upon hearing that Letterman was up for retirement, Gervais jokingly tried to discourage him by suggesting they go on a road trip where they would spend all their money.
[107]

Gervais is one of two featured comedians (the other being Katt Williams) in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV who performs at the Split Sides comedy club on the virtual stand-up stage and as an interviewee on the in game radio station We Know The Truth. For the stand-up bit a special 3-minute act was written, recorded and fully motion-captured.[110]

The Office scripts have been released in book form, with Series 1 issued in 2002,[112] and the remaining episodes following in 2003.[113]Extras: The Illustrated Scripts: Series 1 & 2 has been released, as well.[114]

Gervais directed and starred in, Special Correspondents, which began filming in May 2015.[122][123] The comedy stars Eric Bana as a journalist and Gervais as his assistant. They pretend to report news from a war torn country but in actuality they are safe in New York.[124] The film was released on Netflix. Gervais directed and starred in the 2016 film David Brent: Life on the Road, a mockumentary following David Brent, a character first seen in The Office series, as he lives his dream of being a rockstar.[125][126] On 5 November 2015 Gervais signed up to play Ika Chu, a villainous cat, in an animated film Blazing Samurai. The movie is about a dog Hank played by Michael Cera who wants to be a warrior and fights with Ika Chu for the town of Kakamucho.[127]

On 1 July 2007, Gervais performed at the Concert for Diana in Wembley Stadium, a music event celebrating the life of Princess Diana 10 years after her death.[129] Towards the end of the event—after a pre-recorded introduction from Ben Stiller—Gervais appeared along with fellow Office star Mackenzie Crook. They performed "Free Love Freeway", a song previously heard in the fourth episode of series one of The Office. Due to a technical problem, Gervais then had to fill time until he was able to re-introduce Elton John to close the show, so he did the David Brent dance again, as well as singing the "Little Fat Man" song as performed by David Bowie in episode two of the second series of Extras.[130]

In July 2007, following Gervais' appearance at the memorial concert for the Princess of Wales, The Guardian ran a column by Daily Mirror television critic Jim Shelley entitled "Call Me Crazy... But Has Ricky Gervais Lost It?", where he described Gervais as a "tiresome embarrassment". The following week, The Guardian noted that Gervais had responded with "an exhilaratingly foul-mouthed tirade" on his website, concluding with the sentence "yes I am resting on my fucking laurels you cunt!" In this video, Gervais mocked Jim Shelley typing the words "resting on his laurels" as Gervais jokingly lashed out by stating that he was resting on his laurels and that he was not going to make another show for television, quipping: "What's the point? What is there to beat?"[131]

Gervais lives between Hampstead[132] and New York City[133] with his partner, producer and author Jane Fallon, whom he has been with since 1982. He says they chose not to marry because "there's no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God" or have children because they "didn't fancy dedicating 16 years of our lives. And there are too many children, of course".[134]

Gervais is a staunch supporter of gay rights and has praised the introduction of same sex marriage in England and Wales, calling it "a victory for all of us" and stated "anything that promotes equality, promotes progress." He added: "You can't take equality 'too far'."[135]

He joined Twitter in December 2009 when he first hosted the 66th Golden Globes.[145] After a two-year hiatus, he returned in September 2011.[146] In 2012, Gervais won a Shorty Award for Lifetime Achievement for his popular presence on social media.[147] As of March 2015 he was followed by 7 million fans whom he calls 'Twonks'.[148]

He uses social media to promote his work to his fans. After 10 years Gervais brought back his character Brent on his YouTube channel in a web series Learn Guitar with David Brent.[149][150] Gervais uses many ways to promote his new series, for example for Derek, he posts contests or questions for his fans.[151]

Gervais uses social media to raise awareness of animal welfare. He tweets links to petitions to rescue animals from captivity, he highlights the plight of animals being used for testing, and he encourages people to adopt dogs instead of buying them from breeders.[152] Gervais won the Genesis Award from the Humane Society in March 2015 for his contribution to raising awareness for animal welfare on social media.[153]

In 2002, Gervais took part in a charityboxing match against Grant Bovey, for the UK charity telethon Comic Relief. He was trained for the three-round contest by famous boxing trainer brothers Frank and Eugene Maloney, at their Fight Factory gymnasium. It was the second televised charity boxing match, the first being Bob Mortimer against Les Dennis. The fight was televised by the BBC, and Gervais came out on top by a split decision verdict.[155][156] He donated his £5,000 prize money to the training of a Macmillan nurse who specialised in cancer support.

In 2013, Gervais was named Person of the Year by PETA for his work on curbing animal abuse.[159] For PETA Gervais voiced a rabbit and Pink played an alligator in an awareness advertisement.[160] Gervais named an Asian black bear, also known as a moonbear, Derek after his character Derek Noakes from his series Derek.[161] In December 2013, Gervais bought a $1000 cake shaped like a moonbear to raise funds for Animal Asia.[162] Gervais is active in the prevention of illegal wildlife trade; he supported the handing over of ivory trinkets to the Metropolitan police in London.[163]

1.
Reading, Berkshire
–
Reading is a large, historically important town in Berkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The 19th century saw the coming of the Great Western Railway, Today Reading is a major commercial centre, with involvement in information technology and insurance, and, despite its proximity to London, has a net inward commuter flow. The first evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, by 1525, Reading was the largest town in Berkshire, and tax returns show that Reading was the 10th largest town in England when measured by taxable wealth. By 1611, it had a population of over 5000 and had grown rich on its trade in cloth, the 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of the brewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. During the 19th century, the town rapidly as a manufacturing centre. It is ranked the UKs top economic area for economic success and wellbeing, according to such as employment, health, income. Reading is also a regional retail centre serving a large area of the Thames Valley. Every year it hosts the Reading Festival, one of Englands biggest music festivals, sporting teams based in Reading include Reading Football Club and the London Irish rugby union team, and over 15,000 runners annually compete in the Reading Half Marathon. In 2015, Reading had an population of 232,662. The town is represented in Parliament by two members, and has been continuously represented there since 1295, for ceremonial purposes the town is in the county of Berkshire and has served as its county town since 1867, previously sharing this status with Abingdon-on-Thames. It is in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway. Reading is 75 miles east of Bristol,25 miles south of Oxford,42 miles west of London,17 miles north of Basingstoke,13 miles south-west of Maidenhead and 20 miles east of Newbury. Reading may date back to the Roman occupation of Britain, possibly as a port for Calleva Atrebatum. However the first clear evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, the name probably comes from the Readingas, an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means Readas People in Old English, or less probably the Celtic Rhydd-Inge, meaning Ford over the River. In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex, on 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes defences. The battle is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to their quarters in London. After the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror gave land in, in its 1086 Domesday Book listing, the town was explicitly described as a borough

2.
Stand-up comedy
–
Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is known as a comic, stand-up comic, stand-up comedian. In stand-up comedy, the comedian usually recites a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners typically called a monologue, routine, some stand-up comedians use props, music, or magic tricks to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is often performed in clubs, bars and pubs, nightclubs. Outside of live performance, stand-up is often distributed commercially via television, DVD, CD, in stand-up comedy, the feedback of the audience is instant and crucial for the comedians act. Audiences expect a stand-up comic to provide a stream of laughs. Will Ferrell has called stand-up comedy hard, lonely and vicious, a stand-up comedy show may involve only one comedian, or feature a headline or a showcase format. This is followed by one or two middle or featured acts, who perform 15- to 20-minute sets, followed by a headliner who performs for longer, a showcase format may still feature an MC. Bringer shows are another opportunity for amateur performers, the performer must bring a specified number of paying guests in order to get stage time. The guests usually have to pay a charge and there is often a minimum number of drinks that must be ordered. These shows usually have a showcase format and this type of show gives comedians better exposure than open mics because there is usually better audience turnout and industry professionals sometimes go to watch. Different comedy clubs have different requirements for their bringer shows, gotham Comedy Club in New York City, for example, usually has ten-person bringers, while Broadway Comedy Club in New York City usually has six-person bringers. As the name implies, stand-up comedians usually perform their material while standing, stand-up comedy has its origin in classic Parrhesia in 400 BC used for cynics and epicureans in order to tell the reality without censorship. Stand-up comedy in the United Kingdom began in the halls of the 18th and 19th centuries. The heavy censorship regime of the Lord Chamberlains Office required all comedians to submit their acts for censorship, the act would be returned with unacceptable sections underlined in blue pencil. The comedian was then obliged not to deviate from the act in its edited form, the rise of the post-war comedians coincided with the rise of television and radio, and the traditional music hall circuit suffered greatly as a result. By the 1970s, music hall entertainment was virtually dead, alternative circuits had evolved, such as working mens clubs. The alternative comedy scene began to evolve

3.
Television
–
Television or TV is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in monochrome, or in color, and in two or three dimensions and sound. The term can refer to a set, a television program. Television is a medium for entertainment, education, news, politics, gossip. Television became available in experimental forms in the late 1920s. After World War II, a form of black-and-white TV broadcasting became popular in the United States and Britain, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses. During the 1950s, television was the medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the US, for many reasons, the storage of television and video programming now occurs on the cloud. At the end of the first decade of the 2000s, digital television transmissions greatly increased in popularity, another development was the move from standard-definition television to high-definition television, which provides a resolution that is substantially higher. HDTV may be transmitted in various formats, 1080p, 1080i, in 2013, 79% of the worlds households owned a television set. Most TV sets sold in the 2000s were flat-panel, mainly LEDs, major manufacturers announced the discontinuation of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-backlit LCDs by the mid-2010s. In the near future, LEDs are gradually expected to be replaced by OLEDs, also, major manufacturers have announced that they will increasingly produce smart TVs in the mid-2010s. Smart TVs with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 functions became the dominant form of television by the late 2010s, Television signals were initially distributed only as terrestrial television using high-powered radio-frequency transmitters to broadcast the signal to individual television receivers. Alternatively television signals are distributed by cable or optical fiber, satellite systems and. Until the early 2000s, these were transmitted as analog signals, a standard television set is composed of multiple internal electronic circuits, including a tuner for receiving and decoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuner is correctly called a video monitor rather than a television, the word television comes from Ancient Greek τῆλε, meaning far, and Latin visio, meaning sight. The Anglicised version of the term is first attested in 1907 and it was. formed in English or borrowed from French télévision. In the 19th century and early 20th century, other. proposals for the name of a technology for sending pictures over distance were telephote. The abbreviation TV is from 1948, the use of the term to mean a television set dates from 1941

4.
Film
–
A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides

5.
Book
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A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other materials, fastened together to hinge at one side, with text and/or images printed in ink. A single sheet within a book is a leaf, and each side of a leaf is a page, a set of text-filled or illustrated pages produced in electronic format for reading on a computer screen, smartphone or e-reader device is known as an electronic book, or e-book. The term books may refer the body of works of literature. In library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial periodicals such as magazines, journals, in novels and sometimes other types of books, a book may be divided into several large sections, also called books. An avid reader or collector of books or a lover is a bibliophile or colloquially. A shop where books are bought and sold is a bookshop or bookstore, Books are also sold in some department stores, drugstores and newspaper vendors. Books can also be borrowed from libraries, google has estimated that as of 2010, approximately 130,000,000 distinct titles had been published. In some wealthier nations, printed books are giving way to the usage of electronic or e-books, the word book comes from Old English bōc, which in turn comes from the Germanic root *bōk-, cognate to beech. Similarly, in Slavic languages буква is cognate with beech, in Russian and in Serbian and Macedonian, the word букварь or буквар refers specifically to a primary school textbook that helps young children master the techniques of reading and writing. It is thus conjectured that the earliest Indo-European writings may have been carved on beech wood, similarly, the Latin word codex, meaning a book in the modern sense, originally meant block of wood. When writing systems were created in ancient civilizations, a variety of objects, such as stone, clay, tree bark, metal sheets, the study of such inscriptions forms a major part of history. The study of inscriptions is known as epigraphy, the Ancient Egyptians would often write on papyrus, a plant grown along the Nile River. At first the words were not separated from other and there was no punctuation. Texts were written right to left, left to right. The technical term for that last type of writing is boustrophedon, a tablet might be defined as a physically robust writing medium, suitable for casual transport and writing. See also stylus, the instrument used to write on a tablet, clay tablets were flattened and mostly dry pieces of clay that could be easily carried, and impressed with a stylus. They were used as a medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age. Tablets were used by traders to record sales of such as bushels of grain

6.
Radio
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When radio waves strike an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor. The information in the waves can be extracted and transformed back into its original form, Radio systems need a transmitter to modulate some property of the energy produced to impress a signal on it, for example using amplitude modulation or angle modulation. Radio systems also need an antenna to convert electric currents into radio waves, an antenna can be used for both transmitting and receiving. The electrical resonance of tuned circuits in radios allow individual stations to be selected, the electromagnetic wave is intercepted by a tuned receiving antenna. Radio frequencies occupy the range from a 3 kHz to 300 GHz, a radio communication system sends signals by radio. The term radio is derived from the Latin word radius, meaning spoke of a wheel, beam of light, however, this invention would not be widely adopted. The switch to radio in place of wireless took place slowly and unevenly in the English-speaking world, the United States Navy would also play a role. Although its translation of the 1906 Berlin Convention used the terms wireless telegraph and wireless telegram, the term started to become preferred by the general public in the 1920s with the introduction of broadcasting. Radio systems used for communication have the following elements, with more than 100 years of development, each process is implemented by a wide range of methods, specialised for different communications purposes. Each system contains a transmitter, This consists of a source of electrical energy, the transmitter contains a system to modulate some property of the energy produced to impress a signal on it. This modulation might be as simple as turning the energy on and off, or altering more subtle such as amplitude, frequency, phase. Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave works by varying the strength of the signal in proportion to the information being sent. For example, changes in the strength can be used to reflect the sounds to be reproduced by a speaker. It was the used for the first audio radio transmissions. Frequency modulation varies the frequency of the carrier, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal. FM has the capture effect whereby a receiver only receives the strongest signal, Digital data can be sent by shifting the carriers frequency among a set of discrete values, a technique known as frequency-shift keying. FM is commonly used at Very high frequency radio frequencies for high-fidelity broadcasts of music, analog TV sound is also broadcast using FM. Angle modulation alters the phase of the carrier wave to transmit a signal

7.
Music
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Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. The word derives from Greek μουσική, Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as the harmony of the spheres and it is music to my ears point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, There is no noise, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. There are many types of music, including music, traditional music, art music, music written for religious ceremonies. For example, it can be hard to draw the line between some early 1980s hard rock and heavy metal, within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art or as an auditory art. People may make music as a hobby, like a teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, the word derives from Greek μουσική. According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, the music is derived from mid-13c. Musike, from Old French musique and directly from Latin musica the art of music and this is derived from the. Greek mousike of the Muses, from fem. of mousikos pertaining to the Muses, from Mousa Muse. In classical Greece, any art in which the Muses presided, Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. With the advent of recording, records of popular songs. Some music lovers create mix tapes of their songs, which serve as a self-portrait. An environment consisting solely of what is most ardently loved, amateur musicians can compose or perform music for their own pleasure, and derive their income elsewhere. Professional musicians sometimes work as freelancers or session musicians, seeking contracts and engagements in a variety of settings, There are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musicians take lessons with professional musicians, in community settings, advanced amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles such as community concert bands and community orchestras. However, there are many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is also recorded and distributed. Live concert recordings are popular in classical music and in popular music forms such as rock, where illegally taped live concerts are prized by music lovers

8.
University College London
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University College London is a public research university in London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest postgraduate institution in the UK by enrollment and is regarded as one of the worlds leading research universities. UCL also makes the claims of being the third-oldest university in England. In 1836 UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London, which was granted a charter in the same year. UCL has its campus in the Bloomsbury area of central London, with a number of institutes and teaching hospitals elsewhere in central London. UCL is organised into 11 constituent faculties, within there are over 100 departments, institutes. In 2015/16, UCL had around 38,300 students and 12,000 staff and had an income of £1.36 billion. UCL ranks highly in national and international league tables and its graduates rank among the most employable in the world, UCL academics discovered five of the naturally occurring noble gases, co-discovered hormones, invented the vacuum tube, and made several foundational advances in modern statistics. There are at least 29 Nobel Prize winners and 3 Fields medalists amongst UCLs alumni and current, UCL was founded on 11 February 1826 under the name London University, as an alternative to the Anglican universities of Oxford and Cambridge. London Universitys first Warden was Leonard Horner, who was the first scientist to head a British university and this suggests that while his ideas may have been influential, he himself was less so. In 1827, the Chair of Political Economy at London University was created, with John Ramsay McCulloch as the first incumbent, in 1828 the university became the first in England to offer English as a subject and the teaching of Classics and medicine began. In 1830, London University founded the London University School, which would later become University College School, in 1833, the university appointed Alexander Maconochie, Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, as the first professor of geography in the UK. In 1834, University College Hospital opened as a hospital for the universitys medical school. In 1836, London University was incorporated by charter under the name University College. The Slade School of Fine Art was founded as part of University College in 1871, in 1878, the University of London gained a supplemental charter making it the first British university to be allowed to award degrees to women. The same year, UCL admitted women to the faculties of Arts and Law and of Science, although women remained barred from the faculties of Engineering and of Medicine. Armstrong College, an institution of Newcastle University, also allowed women to enter from its foundation in 1871. Women were finally admitted to medical studies during the First World War in 1917, in 1898, Sir William Ramsay discovered the elements krypton, neon and xenon whilst professor of chemistry at UCL

9.
Black comedy
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Black comedy or dark comedy is a comic style that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo. Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humor with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes, Black comedy corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor. The term black humor was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift. Bretons preference was to some of Swifts writings as a subgenre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism. Scholars have associated black humor with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes, Breton coined the term for his book Anthology of Black Humor, in which he credited Jonathan Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor, and included excerpts from 45 other writers. This victims suffering is trivialized, which leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as found in the social commentary. Black humor is also related to that of the grotesque genre. Breton identified Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor, particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants, A Modest Proposal, A Meditation Upon a Broom-Stick, the terms black comedy or dark comedy have been later derived as alternatives to Bretons term. Bruce Jay Friedman, in his anthology entitled Black Humor, imported the concept of comedy to the United States. He labeled many different authors and works with the idea, arguing that they shared the literary genre. The Friedman label came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, early American writers who employed black humor were Nathanael West and Vladimir Nabokov. In 1965 a mass-market paperback titled Black Humor, was released and this was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the conception of black humor as a literary genre, the publication also sparked nationwide interest in black humor. Among the writers labeled as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl, Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, Warren Zevon, John Barth, Joseph Heller, popular themes of the genre include violence, discrimination, disease, sexuality, religion and barbarism. Comedians, like Lenny Bruce, that since the late 1950s have been labeled for using sick comedy by mainstream journalists, have also labeled with black comedy. By contrast, blue comedy focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, in obscene humor, much of the humorous element comes from shock and revulsion, while black comedy might include an element of irony, or even fatalism. For example, the black comedy self-mutilation appears in the English novel Tristram Shandy. Tristram, five years old at the time, starts to urinate out of a window for lack of a chamber pot. The sash falls and circumcises him, his family reacts with both chaotic action and philosophic digression, cringe comedy Comedy horror Macabre Off-color humor

10.
Insult comedy
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Insult comedy is a comedy genre in which the act consists mainly of offensive insults directed at the performers audience or other performers. Typical targets for insult include individuals in the audience, the town hosting the performance. An insult comedian often maintains a competitive and interactive relationship with his or her audience, the style has been described as festive abuse. The style can be distinguished from an act based on satire, insult comedy is often used to deflect or silence hecklers even when the rest of the show is not focused around it

11.
Desert Island Discs
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Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942 and it was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Since 2006, the programme has been presented by Kirsty Young, more than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest. Excerpts from their choices are played or, in the case of short pieces, at the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly. Guests are also given the Complete Works of Shakespeare and either the Bible or another appropriate religious or philosophical work. They are then prompted to select a book to accompany them. Popular choices include Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, actress Judi Dench, who suffers from macular degeneration, was permitted to take an audiobook in place of a printed manuscript. Guests also choose one luxury, which must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside, Roy Plomley enforced these rules strictly. He did, however, grant a dispensation to Princess Michael of Kent. The rules are, however, less strictly enforced today, for instance, Lawley allowed John Cleese to take Michael Palin with him, on the condition that he was dead and stuffed. Examples of luxuries have included champagne and a piano, the latter of which is one of the most requested luxuries, after Plomleys death in 1985, the programme was presented by Michael Parkinson and from 1988 by Sue Lawley. Lawley stepped down in August 2006 after 18 years, her final castaway being actress Joan Plowright and she was replaced by Kirsty Young, who interviewed illustrator Quentin Blake for her first show, broadcast on 1 October 2006. The most requested piece of music over the first 60 years was Ode to Joy, one of the most remarked broadcasts was Elisabeth Schwarzkopfs 1958 selection of seven of her own recordings. This record was beaten by British pianist Dame Moura Lympany on her second appearance on the programme on 28 July 1979 when all eight of her selections were of her own recordings. In the early 1970s, Roy Plomley attempted to interview Alistair MacLean, but ended up speaking to somebody else with the same name –, Plomley originally wanted the sounds of surf breaking on a shore and the cries of sea birds to open and close each programme. But Leslie Prowne, the head of popular programmes at the BBC, was concerned that it lacked definition. Plomley and the series producer Frederic Piffard selected By the Sleepy Lagoon, the tune has been used since the first transmission in 1942. The sound of herring gulls has accompanied the music except for a period of time in 1964 when tropical bird sounds were used

12.
New wave music
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New wave is a genre of rock music popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s with ties to 1970s punk rock. New wave moved away from smooth blues and rock and roll sounds to create pop music that incorporated electronic and experimental music, mod, initially new wave was similar to punk rock, before becoming a distinct genre. It subsequently engendered subgenres and fusions, including synth-pop, college rock, common characteristics of new wave music include the use of synthesizers and electronic productions, the importance of styling and the arts, as well as diversity. In the mid-1980s, differences between new wave and other genres began to blur. New wave has enjoyed resurgences since the 1990s, after a rising nostalgia for several new wave-influenced artists, subsequently, the genre influenced other genres. During the 2000s, a number of acts explored new wave and post-punk influences, such as the Strokes, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand and these acts were sometimes labeled new wave of new wave. The catch-all nature of new music has been a source of much confusion. The 1985 discography Whos New Wave in Music listed artists in over 130 separate categories, the New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock calls the term virtually meaningless, while AllMusic mentions stylistic diversity. New wave first emerged as a genre in the early 1970s, used by critics including Nick Kent and Dave Marsh to classify such New York-based groups as the Velvet Underground. It gained currency beginning in 1976 when it appeared in UK punk fanzines such as Sniffin Glue and newsagent music weeklies such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express. In November 1976 Caroline Coon used Malcolm McLarens term new wave to designate music by bands not exactly punk, the term was also used in that sense by music journalist Charles Shaar Murray in his comments about the Boomtown Rats. For a period of time in 1976 and 1977, the new wave. By the end of 1977, new wave had replaced punk as the definition for new music in the UK. As radio consultants in the United States had advised their clients that punk rock was a fad, like the filmmakers of the French new wave movement, its new artists were anti-corporate and experimental. At first, most U. S. writers exclusively used the new wave for British punk acts. Music historian Vernon Joynson claimed that new wave emerged in the UK in late 1976, in the U. S. the first new wavers were the not-so-punk acts associated with the New York club CBGB. CBGB owner Hilly Kristal, referring to the first show of the band Television at his club in March 1974, said, furthermore, many artists who would have originally been classified as punk were also termed new wave. A1977 Phonogram Records compilation album of the same name features US artists including the Dead Boys, Ramones, Talking Heads, New wave is much more closely tied to punk and came and went more quickly in the United Kingdom than in the United States

13.
Seona Dancing
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Seona Dancing /ˈʃɔːnə/ were a 1980s British new wave group, best known for providing comedian Ricky Gervais with his first experiences as a public performer. Although the band was not successful, their single More to Lose went on to become a teen anthem in the Philippines, after recording a sixteen-song demo tape, they were signed by London Records which released two of their singles, More to Lose and Bitter Heart. In June 1983, the duo performed their single More to Lose on the ITV syndicated childrens television show Razzamatazz, after the lacklustre performance of their two singles, the band split up in 1984. Gervais went on to have an international career as a comedian. When Jimmy Kimmel asked about Macrae in a 2014 interview, Gervais said, I hope he got fat, in 1985, DWRT-FM, a radio station in Metro Manila, Philippines, started playing a song billed as Fade by Medium. DWRT-FM deliberately misnamed the artist and song title to prevent anyone from finding the record, additionally, to stop other radio stations from recording it and playing it, DWRT-FM inserted a station ID midway through the track. A year later, another station, DWXB-102, revealed the true identity of the song as More to Lose by Seona Dancing. The song, which utilises an opening riff to convey the sound of falling teardrops, became a major radio and club hit as well as a favourite at high-school dances during the 1980s. 1983, More to Lose b/w Youre on My Side 1983, Bitter Heart b/w Tell Her – UK No.79 An unofficial CD compiling all of the bands songs, titled More To Lose, was released in 2005

14.
Suede (band)
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Suede are an English alternative rock band formed in London in 1989. The band is composed of singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Richard Oakes, bass player Mat Osman, drummer Simon Gilbert, in 1992, Suede were dubbed by Melody Maker as The Best New Band in Britain, and attracted much attention from the British music press. The following year their debut album Suede went to the top of the UK Albums Chart and it won the Mercury Music Prize and helped foster Britpop as a musical genre. However, the bands follow-up, Dog Man Star, showed Suede distancing themselves from their Britpop peers, the recording sessions for Dog Man Star were fraught with difficulty, and ended with original guitarist Bernard Butler departing the band after confrontations with the other members. The album was completed without Butler, and the band toured the record with replacement Richard Oakes, although a commercial disappointment at the time, the album was met with a generally enthusiastic reception on release and has, over time been lauded with universal acclaim from critics. In 1994, Suede would become a component of the Britpop big four, along with Oasis, Blur, in 1996, following the recruitment of keyboard player Neil Codling, Suede went on to greater commercial success with Coming Up. The album reached number one in the UK, producing five top ten singles, despite problems within the band, Suedes fourth album Head Music was a British chart-topper. The album was promoted heavily with the band receiving considerable press coverage on its release, however the response from fans, Codling left the band in 2001, citing chronic fatigue syndrome and was replaced by Alex Lee. The bands fifth album, A New Morning, the first following the collapse of Nude Records, was a disappointment. After much speculation Suede reformed in 2010 for a series of concerts, three years on from their reunion gigs, Suede released their sixth album, Bloodsports. It was well received by critics and returned the band to the top ten in the UK and their seventh album Night Thoughts followed in 2016 and became an even bigger critical and commercial success than its predecessor. Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann met in 1989 while studying at University College London and became a couple soon afterwards. Together with Andersons childhood friend Mat Osman, they decided they had the core of a band, Smiths, Commotions, Bowie, Pet Shop Boys. Some things are more important than ability, the advert attracted the interest of nineteen-year-old Bernard Butler, who soon auditioned to join the band. The band settled on the name Suede, lacking a drummer, the band initially used a drum machine. Despite Frischmanns efforts as the de facto manager, the band primarily played small-scale gigs around Camden Town in London. Suedes first breakthrough came with their second demo Specially Suede which they sent to compete in Demo Clash, wonderful Sometimes won Demo Clash for five Sundays in a row during 1990, leading to a recording contract with the Brighton-based indie label RML. The song appeared on a compilation in April 1990 representing Suedes first official release

15.
The 11 O'Clock Show
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The 11 OClock Show was a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4, which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran from 30 September 1998 to 8 December 2000, most notably, while hosted by Iain Lee, the show launched the careers of Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen. The 11 OClock Show underwent a number of changes during its run. There are numerous cases of external segment reporters becoming studio hosts, Iain Lee, who went on to host Channel 4 breakfast show RI, SE in 2003, and went on to forge a successful career in radio. Alex Zane, who went on to present shows such as Rude Tube and Celebrity Scissorhands. Ricky Gervais, who went on to co-create The Office and Extras, paul Garner went on to star in E4s The Pilot Show, VH1s BSTV, and write both series of the award winning Strutter. Sacha Baron Cohen, who went on to create Da Ali G Show and the films Borat, Brüno, mackenzie Crook, who also went on to The Office as well as TV to Go, before a role in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Sarah Alexander, who had appeared on TV before, and went on to play Susan Walker in Coupling, Dr Angela Hunter in Green Wing, jon Holmes co-created Dead Ringers, stars in The Now Show and hosts his own show on XFM London. Brendon Burns, who went on to co-host Im a Celebrity, andre Vincent, John Mann and Shaun Pye were all writers on the show. Comedy writer/performers who also wrote on the show include Alex Lowe, Robert Webb, Rhys Thomas, Tony Way, James Bachman, Danny Bhoy, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker. The latter two went on to co-present and write for 10 OClock Live, a later series which mixed comedy. The 11 OClock Show at the Internet Movie Database, the 11 OClock Show at TV. com. The 11 OClock Show at epguides. com

16.
Channel 4
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Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services, BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, after some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. Indeed, television sets throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare channel called ITV/IBA2. It was most likely politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of almost three decades before the commercial channel became a reality. The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, the result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by Sianel Pedwar Cymru. Operated by a specially created authority, S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, since then, carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available. The first programme to air on the channel was the game show Countdown. The first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second, the first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Carol Vorderman and was a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words, On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast controversial soap opera Brookside, which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashleys ground-breaking television opera Perfect Lives, which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of period, however. Channel 4 for many years had a poorer quality signal compared to other channels, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay, during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 also faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in the documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Drivers Wife. After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, instead of aiming for the fringes of society, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many US programmes in peak viewing time and it gave such shows as Friends and ER their UK premières. In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained the rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and this new direction increased ratings and revenues. In addition, the corporation launched a number of new channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4, At the Races, E4

17.
The Office (UK TV series)
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The Office is a British mockumentary sitcom, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, Gervais also stars in the series, playing the central character, David Brent. Two six-episode series were made, along with a pair of 45-minute Christmas specials, when it was first shown on BBC Two, it was nearly cancelled due to low ratings, but it has since become one of the most successful of all British comedy exports. The show began airing in The United States on Cartoon Networks late night programing block, the show centres on themes of social clumsiness, the trivialities of human behaviour, self-importance and conceit, frustration, desperation and fame. The success of the led to a number of localised adaptations being produced for the television markets of other nations. The show is a mockumentary based in a branch of the fictitious paper company Wernham Hogg. Slough is a town immortalised for its lack of appeal by John Betjeman in his poem Slough, the office is headed by regional manager Brent, aided by his team leader Gareth Keenan played by Mackenzie Crook. Much of the comedic success stems from Brent, who frequently makes attempts to win favour with his employees. Brents character flaws are used to effect, including numerous verbal gaffes, inadvertent racism and sexism. Their flirtation soon builds to a romantic attraction, despite her engagement to the dour and laddish warehouse worker. A comparison between characters in different series is available here, the Office is essentially a character-based comedy, portraying the people who work in an office environment. While being more of a piece than star-driven, four characters are the primary focus of the show. Possessing a very narcissistic personality, he believes he is a maverick in the business world. Although he thinks he is patient, funny and popular, others perceive him as annoying, rude and selfish. Brent thinks he is a kind, politically correct man, but his preoccupation with this position, Tim Canterbury is a sales representative at Wernham Hogg. Unlike David, Tim is witty and considerate and his humour and kindness make him one of the most likeable employees in the office, but at 30 he still lives with his parents and works at a job he believes to be completely pointless. He maintains his sanity by pursuing a romance with receptionist Dawn Tinsley. Although he wishes to leave Wernham Hogg to study psychology, his insecurity prevents him taking any significant action

18.
Extras (TV series)
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Extras is a British sitcom about extras working in television, film, and theatre. The series was co-produced by the BBC and HBO and was created, written, Extras has two series of six episodes each as well as a Christmas Special. The first episode aired in the UK on 21 July 2005 on BBC Two, the second series premiered in the UK on BBC Two on 14 September 2006 and began airing in the US on HBO and in Australia on ABC on 14 February 2007. The Christmas Special aired on 27 December 2007 on BBC One, both series are available on DVD in the UK and the US. The series is filmed in a traditional sitcom style than the mockumentary style used by Gervais. The show has been acclaimed, and has a Metacritic score of 81/100. Andy is accompanied on his various projects by his platonic best friend and fellow extra, Maggie is well-meaning but ditzy, often missing obvious social cues and failing to exhibit appropriate tact and subtlety in conversations. Unlike Andy, Maggie has no aspirations toward being anything more than an extra, Andys agent, Darren Lamb is a part-time employee of mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, and has no real experience in the field of entertainment. He is incompetent, often taking no steps at all to work for Andy, and even discouraging potential employers from hiring his client due to his flabby physique, age. Darren is assisted by former soap star, Shaun Williamson. Lamb frequently tries to undermine Andy by suggesting Williamson is better suited for acting roles that are offered to Andy. Although often successful in these endeavors, circumstances always arise that prevent Andy from advancing his career, reasons include celebrities confessing that they have no real power to help, or Andy inadvertently offending the star which results in his immediate dismissal from set. In the conclusion of season 1, Andy successfully delivers a sitcom script he has written to Patrick Stewart who, in turn, Andy gets a meeting with BBC comedy producers who greenlight his project, and agree to allow him to play the starring role in the show. Although the sitcom is commercially successful, pulling 6 million weekly viewers, Andy is convinced to fire Darren as his agent and become a client of a larger, more professional firm which he believes will accelerate his path upward. After taping a Christmas Special for When the Whistle Blows, he announces to the studio audience that he is quitting the series effective immediately. His career falls into total stagnation and Andy is forced to take bit parts on various long-running British television series such as Doctor Who, eventually, his agent ceases to take his calls. Andys relationship with Maggie sours as he ignores her. When he crashes his agents lunch meeting at a restaurant, he is bluntly told that he will never realize his dreams of having fame, fortune, prestige

19.
Stephen Merchant
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Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. The Ricky Gervais Show in radio form won a bronze Sony Award and he is also known for his voice role as Wheatley in the 2011 video game Portal 2. Merchant appeared as himself in the BBC series Lifes Too Short and he also appeared in the episode The Girl Code of The Simpsons as the computer program ConRad, co-developed the Sky1 travel series An Idiot Abroad, and performs as a stand-up comedian. He has won three BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, and an Emmy Award, in 2013 he created, wrote, and directed HBO series Hello Ladies. He starred in his first play by English playwright Richard Bean, The Mentalists, Merchant was also cast as the mutant Caliban in the 2017 X-Men spin off Logan. Merchant was born in Hanham, Avon, the son of Jane Elaine, a nurse, and Ronald John Merchant. He attended Hanham High School and later the University of Warwick in Coventry from 1993 to 1996, Merchant was a former film reviewer on the student radio station Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career. The stations 1995/1996 yearbook tipped him for things, Members of Merchants posse included film critic James King, Dan Warren, Neil the Maskell. Recently, a number of tapes of The Steve Show, recorded at the time, have been rediscovered and are being distributed on various Merchant fansites. Merchant began his career performing comedy at Bristols Comedy Box. The second week I died on my arse, I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all. He also appeared as a contestant on a 1997 episode of the TV game show Blockbusters, Merchant met Ricky Gervais for the first time in 1997, when Gervais hired Merchant as his assistant. Merchant and Gervais hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show together from January through to August 1998, in the same year, Merchant was a finalist at the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards. Merchant worked for seven years at XFM104.9, the Saturday show never had a large audience, Gervais says Its a tin pot radio station. Its not even the biggest radio station in the building and he created the features Hip Hop Hooray, Make Ricky Gervais Laugh and Song for the Ladies. After leaving XFM, Merchant began a course at the BBC. As part of his coursework, he enlisted Gervais to perform in a 30-minute short film, Seedy Boss, Merchant also directed a sitcom pilot called The Last Chancers, which aired on Comedy Lab in November 2002 and became a five-part series broadcast in December on E4. Merchant and Gervais continued to host The Ricky Gervais Show through 2003, taking another break to film the Office Christmas special, the radio show went off the air indefinitely in January 2004

20.
David Brent
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David The Brentmeister General Brent is a character in the BBC television mockumentary The Office, portrayed by the shows co-creator, co-writer and co-director Ricky Gervais. Much of the comedy of the centres on Brents many idiosyncrasies, hypocrisies, self-delusions. David Brent is the type of boss who wants to be a friend and he imagines his workers find him very funny and enjoy his company, while still respecting him and looking up to him as a boss, even a fatherly figure. A key aspect of the character of Brent is his obliviousness to how people actually see him, causing him to lash out whenever the veil of ignorance. Brent often asks other characters how old they think he is and he has a consistent need to be acknowledged as a renaissance man and to be recognized as exceptionally skilled at his many desired accomplishments. These include writing poetry and lyrics, composing and playing music, being a star, managing his adoring team, dancing. He especially believes himself to be a remarkably talented stand-up comedian and he also boasts frequently about the amount of alcohol he consumes, believing this will gain him respect. He also revealed that he was in a band called Foregone Conclusion. He claims to be a supporter of Reading F. C. and this is usually compounded by clumsy attempts at retractions, after realizing the insulting interpretations of his remarks. In truth, most of his statements are only direct quotations from famous writers as George Bernard Shaw and Confucius. Similarly, while wanting to be regarded by his staff as A friend first, in the first episode of the series, he brings Dawn to tears by joking that she is to be fired for stealing Post-it notes. Brent, failing to see any dilemma or conflict of loyalty, in series two, Brent thus has to deal with the arrival of Neil Godwin in a role immediately above his own. Unlike Brent, Neil is handsome, hard working, genuinely confident in himself, recognizing the extent to which Neil is in most respects his superior and is so much more well liked by staff Brent quickly grows to despise and deeply resent him. From this point on Brent spends much of two trying to attempt to upstage him and prove himself to be the popular and respected boss at every point. The staff arriving with Godwin during the merger also quickly grow to disrespect and, to some extent. Brent is increasingly portrayed as a desperate and depressed man as Neils presence continues to crack his self delusions of how people actually see him. Brents desperation to outdo Neil in the eyes of his staff is shown perhaps most memorably with a dance routine in episode five. Brent argued that the documentary crew stitched him up and portrayed him as the boss from hell, although depicted on-screen as incompetent, it is suggested that he has been successful in the past

21.
Andy Millman
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The British television sitcom Extras centres on the main characters of Andy Millman, Maggie Jacobs and Darren Lamb, in addition to several more recurring characters. Portrayed by Ricky Gervais, Andrew Andy Millman is the character of Extras. His best friend is fellow extra Maggie Jacobs, but her desire to help, coupled with a lack of tact and intelligence. At the end of Series 1, Millman successfully managed to sell a sitcom called When the Whistle Blows, which proves to be a commercial but not a critical success. This may be due to his sense of self-awareness and understanding. Also unlike Brent, who was largely in denial about the world around him, Millman is a depressed and misanthropic character with a more realistic appraisal of the world. Whereas Brent was based on a boss of Gervais, Millmans personality is more autobiographical in origin. A running joke is that Millman did not lose his virginity until the age of 28, portrayed by Ashley Jensen, Maggie Jacobs is characterised as a genuinely kind and supportive individual who only wants to help out. In series two her earthy ways are shown to contrast greatly with the pretensions of Andys new friends, Gervais has stated that he thinks the personality of Maggie resembles a female version of Karl Pilkington, whose friendship with Gervais was developing during the time Extras was being written. During the series Andy even explains that he and Maggie are friends because shes so stupid and it amuses him, Maggie is rather man-hungry, and throughout the series she is constantly on the lookout for Mr. Right. However, owing to circumstance and her tendency to commit social faux-pas. However, there have been instances in which the men she is interested in turn out to be much less than desirable. In one episode she was constantly pestered and eventually kissed by Orlando Bloom, portrayed by Stephen Merchant, Darren Lamb is Andy Millmans agent. He is utterly incapable of breaking an act, and his usual negotiating tactic is to agree with whatever anyone else says. Hes very good at deducting his 12. 5% commission despite frequently having done nothing to contribute to his acts success. For example, in two episode two, whilst in the pub, he asks for £27.50 from Barry for the £220 he was paid for fixing someones gutter. He can often be seen begging for this type of payment and his lack of professional skills is typified by the occasion he inadvertently left his office phone unplugged for two days without noticing. He is also known to make inappropriate remarks at the least helpful of times, Lamb works part-time at the Carphone Warehouse, but in Episode 4 of Series 2, he mentions he only works on Saturdays while Narinder is pregnant

22.
David Brent: Life on the Road
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David Brent, Life on the Road is a 2016 British mockumentary comedy film written, directed, and produced by Ricky Gervais and released by Entertainment One. Gervais said, This film delves much more into his life than The Office ever did. He has emphasised that it is not an Office film, the film was released on 19 August 2016 in the UK by Entertainment One. Fifteen years after his appearance in the BBC2 documentary series The Office, as the tour wears on, the band and crew refuse to socialise with Brent, and even make him drive behind the tour bus claiming there is no room for him. When Brent finally manages to convince a record company rep to attend a show, as the costs of the tour spiral out of control, sound engineer Dan confronts a dejected Brent, telling him to stop wasting his money. The band plays one final show, and then willingly join Brent for a drink, Brent returns to Lavichem to the delight of Pauline, Karen and Nigel. Pauline asks him to take her out for a coffee and she takes his hand as they head out, Ricky Gervais as David Brent Ben Bailey Smith as Dom Johnson, Brents band mate. Smith sang with Gervais on his tours and in 2013. He finished writing the songs for the film in November 2014, chris Martin of Coldplay, who guest starred in Extras with Gervais, recorded music for the soundtrack together with him. Andy Burrows plays the drummer for Foregone Conclusion, and wrote original songs with Gervais. They both have written original songs for the film, including Please Dont Make Fun of the Disabled. There are some familiar songs Gervais sang as Brent in The Office and he said, theres a few we did for The Office, like Free Love Freeway, and also Paris Nights and Spaceman Came Down. On 20 October 2015, Gervais published a photo of Brent on the set of his music video shoot for his song Lady Gypsy. On 24 October, the Daily Mail reported a first look with pictures showing Brent cavorting with a woman dressed in folk dress. The soundtrack album was released together with the film, in May 2016, Gervais announced that Brent would be releasing a single in July ahead of the film release, and on 8 July 2016, Gervais released Brents single Lady Gypsy. The David Brent Songbook was released by Blink Publishing on 11 August 2016 eight days before the premiere of Life on the Road, included are introductions by the character, exclusive images and the tracks arranged for piano, voice and guitar. Gervais said, This book is a dream come true for Brent. Even though this is clearly a book, the sheet music is real. Gervais revealed that the album has 15 tracks, with the edition containing 2 LPs

23.
Flanimals
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Flanimals is a book and a book series written by comedian Ricky Gervais. The book, illustrated by Rob Steen, depicts a list of seemingly useless or inadequate animals, the cover Flanimal is the Grundit. The book is published by Faber and Faber, which has published the sequels More Flanimals, Flanimals of the Deep and Flanimals. Flanimals, Pop Up was published October 2009 by Walker Books in the UK, several models of Flanimals are available on the official site. Coddleflop, A green mush puddle that flips over to protect its soft top, however, since its bottom is equally soft, this strategy is never successful. Plamglotis, A purple ape-like Flanimal with no legs so it swallows its hands to walk around to find food, Mernimbler, A fluffy, pink, round Flanimal that turns into an aggressive adult stage when someone comments on how cute it is. Adult Mernimbler, ogre-like adult stage of the Mernimbler, Grundit, A heavily built blue Flanimal with a bump on its head. Puddloflaj, A pink water balloon-like Flanimal often ridden by Grundits for no clear reason, flemping Bunt-Himmler, A mimic and predator of the baby Mernimbler, only wider and flatter. Underblenge, A gray blobby Flanimal that cant move from the spot it was due to it having extremely strong suction cups on its underside. Blunging, A yellow dinosaur-like Flanimal that lives in family groups. Munty Flumple, A brown humanoid Flanimal that stares at every Flanimal it sees, splunge, A brain-like Flanimal so terrified of everything that it splunges at birth. Honk, A small, pink, tapir-like Flanimal that sleeps all day until it randomly wakes up to make a loud honking sound, Hemel Sprot, A green blobby Flanimal that always looks where its been and never where its going. Sprot Guzzlor, A large blue Flanimal that preys on Hemel Sprots, clunge Ambler, An ape-like Flanimal that hugs everything it sees. Wobboid Mump, A blind eye in jelly that spends its entire life looking for the reason for its existence, sprine Bloat-Trunker, An orange Flanimal that erupts from Sprog and Hemel Sprot recycling plant, and then joins the queue to be recycled. Print, A humanoid Flanimal that dives off high places but always manages to land on its head, gum Spudlet, A Flanimal that resembles a solid version of the Coddleflop and is eaten by Grundits. Munge Fuddler, A crab-like Flanimal that fuddles everything it sees, frappled Humpdumbler, An octopus-like Flanimal with an eye on one side of its head and a nose on the other. Offledermis, A Flanimal born inside out to escape its own smell and it has a heart above its inside out eyeballs and constantly leaks. Plumboid Doppler, A round green Flanimal with eyestalks, blimble Sprent, A yellow, fast-moving Flanimal without arms that sprints everywhere, always avoiding its destination until it dies of exhaustion at exactly the same place it started running

24.
Karl Pilkington
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Karl Pilkington is an English television presenter, author, comedian, radio producer, actor, and voice actor. Pilkington gained prominence as the producer of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchants radio programme on XFM and he appeared on The Ricky Gervais Show, presented the Sky travel comedy series An Idiot Abroad, and made his full acting debut on Gervais 2012 comedy-drama series Derek. Pilkington is a co-founder, along with Gervais and Merchant, of RiSK Productions, Pilkington recently starred in the Sky 1 travel documentary comedy series The Moaning of Life. This is his first show to not have any involvement from either Gervais or Merchant, Pilkington was born on 23 September 1972 in Manchester. After several years he work on The Ricky Gervais Show. Initially Pilkington was solely the programmes producer, as Gervais and Merchant began to invite him to make the odd comment, Pilkingtons persona came to light and his popularity increased. Pilkington was eventually included as an element of the broadcasts, with large amounts of airtime often given over to his thoughts on various subjects. In December 2005, Pilkington stood in for two BBC6 Music shows for Nemone, and co-presented the shows with Russell Brand, Pilkingtons presence on The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts significantly increased his popularity. He has often mentioned in interviews given by Gervais, and is often the butt of Gervais practical jokes. After saying I could eat a knob at night on the podcast, Gervais encouraged his listeners to sample the sound bite, the phrase spawned several dance music mixes, T-shirts, and other merchandise. Many of Pilkingtons quotes have since gained publicity, particularly on the Internet, reuters, commenting on this issue, described Pilkington as a phenomenon who had made Internet history. On 23 November 2010, while appearing live on Richard Bacons Radio 5 Live afternoon show, Pilkington has worked independently of Gervais and Merchant on several projects. He appeared as a guest on the shows Flipside TV and The Culture Show, Merchant and Gervais have repeatedly denied claims that Pilkingtons comic persona is their creation. Gervais concurred, pointing out that writing a series worth of six half-hour episodes of shows such as The Office. An interviewer for The Daily Telegraph concluded that Pilkingtons persona is genuine, Pilkington appeared in an interview on Ricky Gervaiss live stand-up comedy DVD, Politics. He was given a role in the final episode of Extras. He wrote a book to accompany the series, following the success of the first series, Pilkington starred in the second series subtitled The Bucket List, which debuted on 23 September 2011 on Sky1. The premise of the series involves Pilkington trying to experience ultimate things to do before you die except that the list of activities is not entirely of his choosing, in June 2011, he won the Best Presenter award for An Idiot Abroad at the Factual Entertainment Awards

25.
Podcast
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The word arose as a portmanteau of iPod and broadcast. Thus, the files distributed are typically in audio or video formats, the distributor of a podcast maintains a central list of the files on a server as a web feed that can be accessed through the Internet. This process can be automated so that new files are downloaded automatically, files are stored locally on the users device, ready for offline use. Podcasting contrasts with webcasting or streaming which do not allow for offline listening, many podcast players allow listeners to adjust the playback speed. Podcasts are usually free of charge to listeners and can often be created for little to no cost and it is very much a horizontal media form, producers are consumers, consumers may become producers, and both can engage in conversations with each other. Podcast is a portmanteau, invented by BBC journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004, of the words pod — from iPod, despite the etymology, the content can be accessed using any computer or similar device that can play media files. Use of the term podcast predated Apples addition of support for podcasting to the iPod. Other names for podcasting include net cast, intended as a term without the loose reference to the Apple iPod. The name is used by shows from the TWiT. tv network, some sources have suggested the backronym portable on demand for POD, for similar reasons. Podcasting, once a method of spreading information, has become a recognized medium for distributing audio content. Podcasts are similar to programs, but they are audio files. Listeners can play them at their convenience, using devices that have more common than portable broadcast receivers. The first application to make this process feasible was iPodderX, developed by August Trometer, by 2007, audio podcasts were doing what was historically accomplished via radio broadcasts, which had been the source of radio talk shows and news programs since the 1930s. This shift occurred as a result of the evolution of internet capabilities along with increased access to cheaper hardware and software for audio recording and editing. In August 2004, Adam Curry launched his show Daily Source Code and it was a show focused on chronicling his everyday life, delivering news and discussions about the development of podcasting, as well as promoting new and emerging podcasts. Daily Source Code is believed to be the first podcast produced on a consistent basis, Curry published it in an attempt to gain traction in the development of what would come to be known as podcasting and as a means of testing the software outside of a lab setting. The name Daily Source Code was chosen in the hope that it would attract an audience with an interest in technology, Daily Source Code started at a grassroots level of production and was initially directed at podcast developers. As its audience became interested in the format, these developers were inspired to create and produce their own projects and, as a result, as more people learned how easy it was to produce podcasts, a community of pioneer podcasters quickly appeared

26.
The Ricky Gervais Show
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The Ricky Gervais Show is a comedy radio show in the UK starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington, later adapted into a podcast and a television series. Despite being named after the more famous Gervais, it revolves around the life. The show started in August 2001 on Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time throughout 2002,2003,2004, in November 2005, Guardian Unlimited offered the show as a podcast series of 12 shows. According to the BBC, by September 2006, the podcasts of the series had been downloaded nearly 18 million times, as of March 2011, the podcast has been downloaded over 300 million times. The animated series adapted for television debuted for HBO and Channel 4 in 2010, Gervais and Merchant first worked together in radio on the London-based alternative radio station Xfm London. Their show was broadcast from January to August 1998 from 4-6pm on Sundays, the shows original format was more interactive, with features, guests, phone-ins, and audience interaction through listeners letters. Gervais and Merchant returned to Xfm in August 2001, after the first series of The Office had been broadcast, however, the earliest surviving radio broadcasts are from November. Xfm brought in Pilkington as producer, the show was originally just billed as Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and Karls presence was not acknowledged on posters and other advertisements. Gervais and Merchant would speak to Karl about his thoughts on whatever they were talking about. As the producer, Karl had input with features such as Rockbusters, Songs of Phrase, Do We Need em, Knob News, Cheeky Freak of the Week, Monkey News and Educating Ricky. Their last show for XFM aired on July 2nd 2005, after which they chose to switch the format from radio to podcasting. On the 17 November 2001 broadcast, Gervais and Merchant filled the show with sexual innuendos, in which used the word cock multiple times. During a later show Gervais and Merchant revealed that they had discovered that they had received a warning from the authority by reading an article on a news website. The pair often joked how it was acceptable to say cock referring to the male bird, in the years 2001–2005 Karl also acted as main producer of the radio show. According to Emily Bell, editor-in-chief of Guardian Unlimited, Gervais, Bell believes they switched to a podcast format for greater control over content and access to a larger audience. The first 12 episodes were released free of charge through the Guardian Unlimited website, the first series of Podcasts began on 5 December 2005, and a new episode was released each Monday for the next twelve weeks. The show relies heavily on the wit and bizarre theories of Pilkington, on Christmas Eve 2005 Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington broadcast an hour long Christmas special for Radio 2. Series two of the podcast began on 28 February 2006 and it consisted of 6 episodes with the final one released on 4 April 2006

27.
Ghost Town (2008 film)
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Ghost Town is a 2008 American fantasy comedy film directed by David Koepp, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Kamps. Gavin Palone produced the film for Spyglass Entertainment and Pariah and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, the film begins as married New York City businessman Frank Herlihy is accidentally killed while trying to buy an apartment for his mistress. Shortly afterward, cynical dentist Bertram Pincus has an experience while under general anesthetic during a colonoscopy. When he recovers, he is able to see and communicate with ghosts who populate the area, the ghosts annoy Bertram by asking him to help them with personal business that was left unfinished when they died. Bertram eventually agrees to the deal and tries to woo Gwen away from Richard, Bertrams past rudeness to Gwen makes this difficult, but he attracts her interest by analyzing the teeth of a mummified Egyptian Pharaoh that she has been studying. When Bertram has dinner with Gwen and Richard, he decides that Richard is not as bad as Frank claimed, but Bertram himself begins to fall in love with Gwen, and she enjoys Bertrams sense of humor. Frank doesnt understand why he is still on Earth if his business was to break up Richard. Gwen, not being engaged to Richard any longer, says yes to a proposal that would send her to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt for six months. As a going-away present, Bertram gets her a new key chain from a fancy jewelers, but when he mistakenly reveals information about Gwen that only Frank could have known, she demands the truth, and Bertram tells her the whole story about the ghosts. Gwen doesnt believe him and demands to know what Franks worst nightmare was, Frank lies to Bertram, telling him a fake nightmare, and Gwen, thinking that Bertram has been lying to her and playing some kind of game, walks away and cuts him off. Bertram demands to know why Frank lied to him about the nightmare, Bertram sinks into a depression and asks a fellow dentist, for medication that will help him forget Gwen. His colleague instead convinces him that his life would be if he decided to stop being selfish. Bertram begins helping the ghosts around him with their business on Earth, bringing comfort to people they left behind. As he does this he realizes that the ghosts were still on Earth not because they had unfinished business and he begins to appreciate life and the people he encounters. Bertram realizes that the reason Frank cannot leave is that Gwen has not let go of him yet and he confronts Gwen who asks him to ask Frank why she wasnt enough for him, and Frank says hes sorry for hurting her, which Bertram tells Gwen. Gwen is incredulous that after his infidelity, all Frank would have to say was sorry and he rushes after her and while trying to persuade her to believe him, gets hit by a bus. Bertram, now a ghost himself, watches with Frank as people crowd around his body, Richard arrives on his way to the reception and tries to revive Bertram with prayer and CPR. Seeing how distraught Gwen is, Frank gives Bertram some advice that will be useful in case he is resuscitated, after saying this, Frank is finally allowed to leave the earthly plane

28.
Muppets Most Wanted
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Muppets Most Wanted is a 2014 American musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, and the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. In the film, the Muppets find themselves involved in an international crime caper while on tour in Europe. Aside from co-writer Jason Segel, the majority of the team behind The Muppets returned for Muppets Most Wanted including Bobin, Stoller. Bret McKenzie and Christophe Beck returned to compose the songs and musical score. Principal photography commenced in January 2013 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, Muppets Most Wanted had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on March 11,2014, and was released theatrically in North America on March 21,2014. The film grossed $80.4 million worldwide, following the events of the previous film, The Muppets find themselves at a loss as to what to do until Dominic Badguy suggests the Muppets go on a European tour with him as their tour manager. Once the Muppets arrive in Berlin, Germany, Dominic secures them a show at a prestigious venue, frustrated with the groups incessant requests and Miss Piggys insistence they marry, Kermit goes for a walk at Dominics suggestion. Constantine ambushes him and glues a fake mole onto his cheek then slips away, mistaken for Constantine, Kermit is arrested and sent to the Gulag. Taking Kermits place, Constantines blunders in imitating him are covered by Dominic, however, after the Berlin performance opens with Constantine freezing at the audience, Scooter has to introduce the show. Constantine and Dominic steal paintings from a museum while the Muppets perform, Nadya orders Kermit to help organize the prisoners annual talent show. Following hidden instructions on the painting, Constantine and Dominic divert the tour to Madrid. Constantine allows the Muppets to perform whatever they wish, much to Walters confusion, during this show, Constantine and Dominic break into a museum and destroy a roomful of busts to find a key needed for their plan. Even though the performance is a disaster, the Muppets receive critical acclaim, Sam and Napoleon deduce that the connection between the crimes is the Muppet tour, and the pair interrogates the Muppets, only to find that they are too ill-equipped to be guilty. The instructions on the stolen key lead Constantine and Dominic to schedule the show in Dublin. In Dublin, Walter discovers that Dominic has been giving away show tickets and bribing critics to ensure a packed house and rave reviews and they both realize that Constantine has taken Kermits place and brought in Dominic as his accomplice. Constantine attacks Walter and Fozzie, but Animal fends him off, Fozzie, Walter, and Animal reach the Siberian Gulag on the night of the performance, and Kermit uses it as a front to allow them, himself, and all the prisoners to escape the Gulag. Kermit, Fozzie, Walter, and Animal infiltrate the Tower as the wedding begins, Constantine ejects him from the helicopter and tries to take off with Piggy, but Kermit jumps aboard and the rest of the Muppets climb atop each other to stop the escape. Kermit and Piggy knockout Constantine and both criminals are arrested, Nadya arrives in London to arrest Kermit for escaping

29.
The Invention of Lying
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The Invention of Lying is a 2009 American fantasy romantic comedy film written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson. The film stars Gervais as the first human with the ability to lie in a world people can only tell the truth. The supporting cast features Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C. K, the film was released in the United States on October 2,2009. The film is set in a reality in which lying does not exist. As a consequence of this premise, religion does not exist, Mark Bellison is a screenwriter, in a film industry limited to historical readings because there is no fiction. One night he has a date with the beautiful and wealthy Anna McDoogles and she tells Mark she is not attracted to him, because of his looks and failing financial situation, but is going out with him as a favour to his best friend Greg Kleinschmidt. The next day Mark is fired from his job because of the lack of interest in his films, crestfallen, he goes to the bank to close his account. The teller informs him that the computers are down, and asks him how much money he has in his account. Mark has an epiphany that enables him to tell the worlds first lie and he becomes wealthy from the films success. Mark convinces Anna to go out with him again, she congratulates Mark for his success and admits that he would be a good husband and father. Mark then gets a call that his mother has had a heart attack, there, the doctor tells him that his mother is going to die. She is scared of death, believing that it bring a eternity of nothingness. Mark, through tears, tells her that death instead brings a joyful afterlife, introducing the concept of a Heaven to her, Mark soon receives worldwide attention for his supposed new information about death. Some time later Anna and Mark are together in a park and Anna asks him, if they marry, would his now being rich, Mark wants to lie but does not because of his love for Anna, and says no. Meanwhile, Marks enemy Brad Kessler pursues Anna romantically, motivated by Marks success, though Brads selfish, cruel manner makes Anna uncomfortable, she continues dating him and they become engaged. Before the wedding Greg appears and convinces Mark that he has not missed his chance with Anna, Mark reluctantly attends Anna and Brads wedding, where he objects to the marriage, but the officiant informs him that only the Man in the Sky can stop the wedding. Brad and Anna both ask Mark to ask the Man in the Sky what Anna should do but Mark refuses to say anything and leaves, Anna walks out and Mark confesses his ability to lie. Anna struggles to understand the concept and asks why he did not lie to convince her to marry him, Anna confesses that she loves him

30.
Netflix
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Netflix is an American entertainment company founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 29,1997, in Scotts Valley, California. It specializes in and provides streaming media and video-on-demand online and DVD by mail, in 2013, Netflix expanded into film and television production, as well as online distribution. As of 2017 the company has its headquarters in Los Gatos, Netflixs initial business model included DVD sales and rental, although Hastings jettisoned DVD sales about a year after Netflixs founding to focus on the DVD rental by mail business. In 2007, Netflix expanded its business with the introduction of streaming media, while retaining the DVD, Netflix entered the content-production industry in 2013, debuting its first series, House of Cards. It has greatly expanded the production of film and television series since then, offering Netflix Original content through its online library of films. Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films in 2016, in January 2017, Netflix reported having over 93 million subscribers worldwide, including more than 49 million in the United States. Netflix was founded on August 29,1997, in Scotts Valley, California, by Marc Randolph, Randolph worked as marketing director for Hastings company, Pure Atria Corporation. Randolph was a co-founder of MicroWarehouse, a mail order company. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, sold Pure Atria to Rational Software Corporation in 1997 for $700 million in what was then the richest acquisition in Silicon Valley history. Hastings, Randolphs mother and Integrity QA founder Steve Kahn invested $2.5 million in cash for Netflix. Randolph admired the fledgling e-commerce company Amazon and wanted to find a category of portable items to sell over the internet using a similar model. He and Hastings considered and rejected VHS tapes as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship. When they heard about DVDs, which were available in only a few markets in 1997, when the disc arrived intact, they decided to take on the $16 billion home video sales and rental industry. Netflix introduced the monthly subscription concept in September 1999, and then dropped the model in early 2000. Since that time, the company has built its reputation on the model of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping and handling fees. In 2000, Netflix offered to be acquired by Blockbuster for $50 million, Netflix initiated an initial public offering on May 29,2002, selling 5.5 million shares of common stock at the price of US$15.00 per share. On June 14,2002, the company sold an additional 825,000 shares of stock at the same price. After incurring substantial losses during its first few years, Netflix posted its first profit during fiscal year 2003, in 2005,35,000 different films were available, and Netflix shipped 1 million DVDs out every day

31.
Golden Globe Award
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Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual ceremony at which the awards are presented is a part of the film industrys awards season. The 74th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film, the 1st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish an honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as a figure within the entertainment industry. The official name of the award became the Cecil B. In 1963, the Miss Golden Globe concept was introduced, in its inaugural year, two Miss Golden Globes were named, one for film and one for television. The two Miss Golden Globes named that year were Eva Six and Donna Douglas, respectively, in 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned. It was unveiled at a conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show. The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, telecast to 167 countries worldwide, generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars, gervais returned to host the 68th and 69th Golden Globe Awards the next two years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the 70th, 71st and 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015, the Golden Globe Awards theme song, which debuted in 2012, was written by Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi. On January 7,2008, it was announced due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. In acting categories, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most competitive Golden Globe wins with eight, however, including honorary awards, such as the Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite Actor/Actress Award, or Cecil B. DeMille Award, Barbra Streisand leads with nine, additionally, Streisand won for composing the song Evergreen, producing the Best Picture, and directing Yentl in 1984. Jack Nicholson, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda and Shirley MacLaine have six awards each, behind them are Rosalind Russell and Jessica Lange with five wins. Meryl Streep also holds the record for most nominations with thirty, at the 46th Golden Globe Awards an anomaly occurred, a three way-tie for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

32.
British Academy Film Awards
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The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to honour the best British and international contributions to film. Between 2008 and 2016, the ceremony was held in central London at the Royal Opera House, the 70th British Academy Film Awards were held on 12 February 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in 1947 as The British Film Academy, by David Lean, Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Roger Manvell and others. BAFTA stated charitable purpose is to support, develop and promote the art forms of the image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners. In addition to awards ceremonies BAFTA runs a year-round programme of educational events including film screenings. BAFTA is supported by a membership of about 6,000 people from the film, television, the Academys awards are in the form of a theatrical mask designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, which was commissioned by the Guild of Television Producers in 1955. The ceremony previously took place in April or May and since 2002 it takes place in February in order to precede the Oscars. The awards are open to all nationalities, though there is an award for Outstanding British Film. Only UK films are eligible for the categories of The British Short Film, the Awards ceremony is delayed broadcast on British television the same evening, and across the world for example its shown on BBC America in the United States. It has been broadcast in colour since 1970, the award ceremony is held in London. From 2000 to 2007 the ceremonies took place at the flagship Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, between 2008 and 2016, the ceremonies took place at the Royal Opera House. The 70th Awards in 2017 were held at the Royal Albert Hall, until 2012, the mobile network Orange sponsored the awards and starting in 2013 Oranges parent company, EE, began sponsorship. British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy Television Awards Official website BAFTA Awards database Museum of Broadcast Communications, BAFTA IMDB, BAFTA

33.
British Comedy Awards
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The British Comedy Awards was an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. Jonathan Ross announced that he would not be presenting the 2008 awards, the 2007 show occurred on 6 December 2007, but was not televised due to the 2005 controversy and subsequent investigations. The following years ceremony was shown live on 6 December 2008, Compliance for the show was the responsibility of the ITV Compliance Unit of ITV Network Limited. In June 2010, it was announced that awards were to be broadcast on Channel 4 for three years, which was extended for one more year. Shortly afterwards, the 2010 ceremony was postponed until the 2010 ceremony finally aired in January 2011, in June 2015 Channel 4 announced they would be dropping the ceremony. The 2015 ceremony was cancelled due to a lack of a suitable broadcast partner. A new broadcast partner is being lined up for the 2016 ceremony, at the 2005 British Comedy Awards show, the wrong show received the Peoples Choice Award. Charged by the show with investigating the allegations of irregularities. It was understood that he would be if the recipients were Anthony McPartlin. In order to ensure his attendance, this assurance was given, but it could not be definitively established that Williams involvement led to the wrong winner being announced. Ant & Decs Saturday Night Takeaway did however receive the Peoples Choice Award at the British Comedy Awards 2006, beginning on 26 July 2007, British tabloid newspapers reported the alleged involvement of the British Comedy Awards in the 2007 British television phone-in scandal. ITV announced that they postponed the British Comedy Awards 2007 due to the voting irregularities, in a statement, the company said, Pending conclusion of the investigation, broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 will be postponed. ITV will not make any comment regarding this matter until the conclusion of the investigation. The 2007 awards did take place on 5 December 2007, in early May 2008 Ofcom announced its fining and sanctioning ITV plc in a press release. On 15 August 2008, it was announced that a scandal could have been committed in the award ceremony at the 2004 Awards. Angus Deayton replaced Jonathan Ross as the host of the British Comedy Awards, Ross returned to presenting the awards in 2009. Best Comedy Panel Show, Would I Lie to You, British Comedy Awards at British Comedy Guide

34.
Emmy Award
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An Emmy Award, or simply Emmy, recognizes excellence in the television industry, and corresponds to the Academy Award, the Tony Award, and the Grammy Award. Because Emmy Awards are given in various sectors of the American television industry, Regional Emmy Awards are also presented throughout the country at various times through the year, recognizing excellence in local and statewide television. In addition, International Emmys are awarded for excellence in TV programming produced, each is responsible for administering a particular set of Emmy ceremonies. The Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences established the Emmy Award as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity. The first Emmy Awards ceremony took place on January 25,1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club, shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, during that first awards ceremony. In the 1950s, the ATAS expanded the Emmys into a national event, in 1955, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was formed in New York City as a sister organization to serve members on the East Coast, and help to also supervise the Emmys. The NATAS also established regional chapters throughout the United States, with each one developing their own local Emmy awards show for local programming, the ATAS still however maintained its separate regional ceremony honoring local programming in the Los Angeles Area. Originally there was only one Emmy Awards ceremony held per year to honor shows nationally broadcast in the United States, in 1974, the first Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony was held to specifically honor achievement in national daytime programming. Other area-specific Emmy Awards ceremonies soon followed, also, the International Emmy Awards, honoring television programs produced and initially aired outside the U. S. was established in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, all Emmys awarded prior to the emergence of these separate, in 1977, due to various conflicts, the ATAS and the NATAS agreed to split ties. However, they agreed to share ownership of the Emmy statue and trademark. With the rise of television in the 1980s, cable programs first became eligible for the Primetime Emmys in 1988. The ATAS also began accepting original online-only web television programs in 2013, the Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model. The TV Academy rejected a total of forty-seven proposals before settling on McManus design in 1948. The statuette has become the symbol of the TV Academys goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television, The wings represent the muse of art. When deciding a name for the award, Academy founder Syd Cassyd originally suggested Ike, however, Ike was also the popular nickname of World War II hero and future U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the Academy members wanted something unique. Finally, television engineer and the third president, Harry Lubcke, suggested the name Immy. After Immy was chosen, it was feminized to Emmy to match their female statuette

35.
Rose d'Or
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The Rose dOr is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. Eurovision first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the city of Montreux. The awards stayed with Eurovision for almost 40 years, Eurovision re-acquired the awards in 2013 and successfully re-launched the event that year in Brussels. In 2014 the event took place on 17 September in Berlin, for the first time in its 53-year history, the competition categories were extended to include radio and online video programmes in addition to the traditional focus on television. Producers, executives from independent and public broadcasters and heads of production companies from several countries took part. The Rose dOr rewards originality, quality and creativity and sets the standard of excellence in entertainment programming. He had the idea that Switzerland could produce an entertainment programme, the festival was held in the spring to have programmes ready for broadcast in the summer, and the Golden Rose awards established as an extra incentive. As the festival grew, programme swaps ceased to be viable and this idea – widely copied since then – rapidly turned the Rose dOr into one of the worlds most important entertainment programme markets. The Strike 1989, Hale & Pace 1990, Mr

36.
Screen Actors Guild Award
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The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called The Actor. It is 16 inches tall, weighs over 12 pounds, is cast in solid bronze, SAG Awards have been one of the major awards events in Hollywood since 1995. It is considered an indicator of success at the Academy Awards, the awards have been telecast since 1998 on TNT, and since 2007 have been simulcast on TBS. The inaugural SAG Awards aired live on February 25,1995 from Universal Studios Stage 12, the second SAG awards aired live from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, while subsequent awards have been held at the Shrine Exposition Center

37.
Culture of the United Kingdom
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The wider culture of Europe has also influenced British culture, and Humanism, Protestantism and representative democracy developed from broader Western culture. British literature, music, cinema, art, theatre, comedy, media, television, philosophy, architecture, the United Kingdom is also prominent in science and technology, producing world-leading scientists and inventions. Sport is an important part of British culture, numerous sports originated in the country, the UK has been described as a cultural superpower, and London has been described as a world cultural capital. The Industrial Revolution, which started in the UK, had an effect on the socio-economic. These states are collectively known as the Anglosphere, and are among Britains closest allies. In turn the empire also influenced British culture, particularly British cuisine, the cultures of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverse and have varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness. First spoken in early medieval England, the English language is the de facto language of the UK. Individual countries within the UK have frameworks for the promotion of their indigenous languages, Irish and Ulster Scots enjoy limited use alongside English in Northern Ireland, mainly in publicly commissioned translations. There is also a campaign under way to recognise Scots as a language in Scotland, the Cornish language enjoys neither official recognition nor promotion by the state in Cornwall. Under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the UK Government has committed to the promotion of linguistic traditions. The United Kingdom has ratified the charter for, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Scots, Cornish, British Sign Language is also a recognised language. Owing to its history, dialects and regional accents vary amongst the four countries of the United Kingdom. Some cities in close proximity have a different dialect and accent, such as Scousers from Liverpool, notable Scouse speakers include John Lennon and Paul McCartney from The Beatles while Mancunians include Liam and Noel Gallagher from Oasis. Received Pronunciation is the accent of standard English in the UK, brummie is the dialect of natives of Birmingham in the west midlands of England – notable Brummies include rock musicians Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Lynne, and Rob Halford. Geordie is the dialect of people from Tyneside in northeast England – musicians Brian Johnson, Mark Knopfler, notable exponents of the Scottish accent include Sean Connery, comedian Billy Connolly, and The Proclaimers. The West Country accent from southwest England is identified in film as pirate speech – cartoon-like Ooh arr, talk is very similar, while famous pirates hailed from this region, including Blackbeard, West Country native Robert Newtons performance as Long John Silver in films standardised the pirate voice. The Northern Irish accent includes golfer Rory McIlroy and actor Liam Neeson, the early 18th century is known as the Augustan Age of English literature. From the late 18th century, the Romantic period showed a flowering of poetry comparable with the Renaissance 200 years earlier, in Scotland the poetry of Robert Burns revived interest in Scots literature, and the Weaver Poets of Ulster were influenced by literature from Scotland

38.
Time 100
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Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world assembled by the American news magazine Time. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, although appearing on the list is often seen as an honor, Time makes it clear that entrants are recognized for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions. The final list of individuals is exclusively chosen by Time editors with nominations coming from the TIME100 alumni. Only the winner of the Readers Poll, conducted days before the official list is revealed, is chosen by the general public, included in the list eleven times, Barack Obama is the person who has been listed most often. The list was started with a debate at a symposium in Washington, the list was first published in 1999, when Time magazine named the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Based on the popularity of the installment, in 2004, Time magazine decided to make it an annual issue and those recognized fall in one of five categories, Leaders & Revolutionaries, Builders & Titans, Artists & Entertainers, Scientists & Thinkers, Heroes & Icons. A record of 41 women are included in the edition, the highest number of personalities in the lists history. The annual gala was held on April 29,2014 in New York City and they are artists and activists, reformers and researchers, heads of state and captains of industry. Their ideas spark dialogue and dissent and sometimes even revolution, welcome to this years TIME100. The announcement was celebrated with an event in New York City on April 26,2011. The honorees were joined by A-list celebrities at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Time readers contributed to the selection by an online vote of over 200 finalists. The list included familiar global newsmakers such as U. S. President Barack Obama, the list included numerous figures representing the year of upheaval in the Middle East ranging from rebels, to political leaders to news correspondents. Although the events of what has been dubbed the Arab Spring were prominent, additionally, Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton were part of the list during the week before their wedding. The list also included Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of Minamisōma, Fukushima, list of individuals included in the TIME100 in 2010 In its online presentation, Time introduced the list as follows, In our annual TIME100 issue, we name the people who most affect our world. Oprah Winfrey continued her streak of having been included on every Time 100 list and was one of women on the list. The list included many expected names and some such as Scott Brown. Others who were considered surprise selections included Elton John, Ashton Kutcher, the announcement of the list was celebrated by a black tie gala at the Time Warner Center in New York City on May 4,2010. The list was published the following day, Time readers contributed to the selection by an online vote of over 200 finalists

39.
Battle Hospital
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Battle Hospital was a National Health Service hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The hospital was located on a site between Oxford Road and Portman Road, in West Reading. Battle Hospital began its life in 1867 as a workhouse, the Reading Union Workhouse, between 1889 and 1892 an infirmary was added with 185 beds for vagrants. During the First World War it became the Reading War Hospital, in 1930 it became a municipal hospital, taking the name Battle Hospital for the first time. In 1948, by now with 384 beds, Battle Hospital became a hospital under the new National Health Service. In 1952 a new maternity unit, Thames Block, opened, in 1972 the new single storey Abbey block opened. By 1993, Battle Hospital had 280 beds, compared with 760 beds at Readings other general hospital, both hospitals were administered by the Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust. In 2005 the hospital closed, with all its patients and services transferred to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, a new block at that hospital, built to accommodate the extra capacity required to support this move, was named the Battle Block. The hospital has since been demolished, the western half of the site is now occupied by a large Tesco supermarket, with its supporting car parks and filling station. The eastern part of the site has been redeveloped as a housing estate, Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust website

40.
Whitley, Reading
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Whitley is a suburb of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is also a ward of the Borough of Reading. The former main road to Basingstoke passes just to the west of the centre of Whitley, the current A33 relief road to Basingstoke passes to the west of the industrial area, as does the parallel railway line. Between the relief road and Bennet Road and railway can be found the recent Green Park business park, historically, Whitley was a hamlet outside the Reading borough limits, but within the parish of the church of St Giles in Reading. The Borough of Reading is responsible for all local government, Whitley ward borders Minster, Katesgrove, Church and Southcote wards, together with parts of the local government district of Wokingham Borough. As with all wards, apart from smaller Mapledurham, it elects three councillors to Reading Borough Council, elections since 2004 are held by thirds, with elections in three years out of four. In the 2011,2012 and 2014 a Labour Party candidate won each election, ricky Gervais, comedian, actor, film director and producer, musician and writer. Midge Ure, musician, whilst a member of Slik in 1974 lived briefly on Hexham Road. M. L. Emmett, poet, editor, Convenor of Friendly Street Poets Inc. lives in Australia but lived as a child in Ashburton Road, Hartland Road and Brayford Road

41.
Franco-Ontarian
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Franco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as Ontarois, according to the 2006 Canadian census, there were 488,815 self-declared francophones in Ontario, comprising 4.1 per cent of the provinces total population. A further 1,000,000 Ontarians self-declared French to be one of mother tongues. According to the subsequent 2011 Canadian census, there were 493,300 self-declared francophones in Ontario comprising 3. 9% of the total population. There were 284,115 Ontarians who declared French as their home language, Franco-Ontarians constitute the largest French-speaking community in Canada outside of Quebec, as well as the largest minority language group within Ontario. Other communities with notable populations are Lakeshore, Windsor, Penetanguishene. Most communities in Ontario have at least a few Franco-Ontarian residents, Ottawa, with 128,620 francophones, has the provinces largest Franco-Ontarian community by size. Some smaller communities in Ontario have a francophone majority and these include Hearst, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Embrun, St. Charles, Sturgeon Falls, Rockland, Casselman, Dubreuilville, Vankleek Hill and Hawkesbury. The French presence in Ontario dates from the mid-17th century, early settlements in the region include the Mission of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons at Midland in 1649, Sault Sainte Marie in 1668, and Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in 1701. Southern Ontario was part of the Pays den-haut of New France and was part of the province of Quebec until Quebec was split into The Canadas in 1791. Modern Franco-Ontarians are instead descended primarily from people who moved to Ontario from Quebec or New Brunswick in the 19th and 20th centuries, in popular usage, the first meaning predominates and the second is poorly understood. Although most Franco-Ontarians meet both definitions, there are notable exceptions, both meanings can be politically charged. The Franco-Ontarian identity is further split into three groups according to historical waves of settlement and immigration, the first wave of settlement in the Detroit/Windsor area came in the 18th century, under French rule. Most settlers then came from what is now Quebec, including both full French and Métis, a second wave came in the 19th and early 20th centuries to the areas of Eastern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. In the Ottawa Valley, in particular, some families have moved back and forth across the Ottawa river for generations, which results in a complex borderland identity. In the city of Ottawa some areas such as Vanier and Orleans have a rich Francophone heritage, the third and most recent wave consists of Quebecers and other francophones who move to the larger cities and often preserve their original identity as their primary cultural affiliation. Franco-Ontarians may also have ties to more than one of these three groups, which blurs the lines between these distinctions. Intermarriage between Franco-Ontarians and people of ethnic or cultural backgrounds is also quite common

Bernard Butler (shown here during a live performance with The Tears in 2005), left Suede in 1994 due to growing tensions between him and lead vocal Brett Anderson, with whom he finally made amends in 2003.

The English are a nation and an ethnic group native to England who speak the English language. The English identity is …

"The Arrival of the First Ancestors of Englishmen out of Germany into Britain": a fanciful image of the Anglo-Saxon migration, an event central to the English national myth. From A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence by Richard Verstegan (1605)

Human cancer cells with nuclei (specifically the DNA) stained blue. The central and rightmost cell are in interphase, so the entire nuclei are labeled. The cell on the left is going through mitosis and its DNA has condensed.